


national treasure

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Treasure Hunting, gratuitous mocking of tony's inability to navigate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25947568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: “I’m pretty sure we were supposed to go left there,” Pepper said with her nose buried in the map, which Tony was fairly certain she was holding upside down.Rhodey grunted where he was clearing their path of spiderwebs and other icky things (Tony and Pepper had both screamed loud enough to wake the dead the first time they’d walked into a massive spider web, so Rhodey had been unanimously elected the clearer of paths. Funnily enough, he had not gotten a vote). “The GPS says to go straight.”“Why, exactly, do we have both a GPS and a paper map?” Tony asked, as if either of his partners were going to answer him. “The map is over a century old, right? And what did you set the GPS to to find hidden treasure that exists only in stories? Does no one else see the problem here? And we were supposed to go right.”
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 75





	national treasure

**Author's Note:**

> for au-gust day 16: treasure hunters au
> 
> me, getting this up 40 minutes before the day ends? more likely than you'd think! i hope it doesn't read as too rushed
> 
> enjoy!!

“I’m pretty sure we were supposed to go left there,” Pepper said with her nose buried in the map, which Tony was fairly certain she was holding upside down.

Rhodey grunted where he was clearing their path of spiderwebs and other icky things (Tony and Pepper had both screamed loud enough to wake the dead the first time they’d walked into a massive spider web, so Rhodey had been unanimously elected the clearer of paths. Funnily enough, he had not gotten a vote). “The GPS says to go straight.”

“Why, exactly, do we have both a GPS and a paper map?” Tony asked, as if either of his partners were going to answer him. “The map is over a century old, right? And what did you set the GPS to to find hidden treasure that exists only in stories? Does no one else see the problem here? And we were supposed to go right.”

“You’re guessing,” Pepper huffed. “You have no idea where we are.”

“I know we’re at a dead end,” Tony said, gesturing at the wall with a roll of his eyes. “And that the other tunnel that branched off right looked longer than this one, while the one that went left was clearly booby trapped.”

“If it were booby trapped, you wouldn’t notice until it was too late,” Pepper pointed out, putting her map in her pocket. “Remember the caves in--”

“I remember getting up out of that with my quick thinking and incredible skill,” Tony interrupted. There was no need to rehash his (admittedly numerous) trap-related mishaps, as entertaining as Pepper might find it.

“I almost died!” she shouted.

Tony smirked. “ _Almost_ being the key word there,” he teased. “We got the leeches off of you in record time.”

He could see the way she was gearing up for a rant about the evils of leeches by how she waved her hands. He was looking forward to playing devil’s advocate (treasure hunting got boring sometimes, especially the _walking aimlessly through tunnels_ bit), when Rhodey cleared his throat.

“If you two are done flirting, I told you it was straight,” he said, poking at something on the wall. Tony watched as it swung forward on nearly invisible hinges, showing that the tunnel kept going. Rhodey shot them both a smug smile as he gestured at the open path. “Ladies first, Pep.”

“I will give you so many kisses if you don’t make me go first,” Pepper peered down the tunnel. “Because if I walk into another spider web, I’m lighting myself on fire and taking you two with me.”

“Don’t look at me,” Tony held his hands up. “Because my counteroffer is that I’ll do that tongue thing you like if you make her go first and let me videotape it for a rainy day.”

“Tony, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” Pepper said sweetly. 

Rhodey put his head in his hands. “I’ll go first,” he said, his voice fondly exasperated. “But I’m taking full credit for this discovery, just so you know. You two can be a footnote.”

Tony and Pepper exchanged glances. “That’s fair,” they said together.

Both of them knew Rhodey wasn’t _really_ going to take full credit. That just wasn’t how they operated. They were equal partners in both life and treasure hunting. Rhodey was their rock, their steady center who always steered them in the right direction, kept them on track, and killed the spiders. Pepper was the brains of the operation, whose research was invaluable to making sure they got where they needed to be. And Tony was the spark that brought out the adventurous side in both of the others. Together, they were successful treasure hunters (and one hell of a relationship).

They were going after treasure said to have been hidden by revolutionaries in the 1700s this time around. The research had said the word _Freemason_ too many times for Tony to ignore, even though Pepper had said that it was likely a bust. He was a sucker for secret societies after watching _National Treasure_ a few too many times, okay? And they’d indulged Rhodey’s love of caves with their last hunt, so it was Tony’s turn, anyway. 

He wasn’t sure they were going to find anything, but half of the fun was the hunt itself. Dodging boody traps, darting down tunnels that were on the verge of collapse, accidentally inhaling spiderwebs… it was possibly less than half the fun, when Tony thought about it. At least he had Pepper and Rhodey at his side. 

Tony fell in step behind Rhodey, Pepper bringing up the rear. He trailed his fingers against the rough tunnel walls, determined to catch the next secret whatever before Rhodey. Rhodey was currently beating him in their secret door finding contest by three, so Tony was starting to regret not going first down the tunnel. 

“I still think we should’ve gone right,” he said, ducking under a collapsed ceiling section. 

“Random guessing is not a valid navigational tool,” Rhodey said, not even turning around. “Just because you were right that one time does not mean we’re going to just go with your gut.”

“Especially because you were wrong about the turn after that one,” Pepper chimed in. 

“I maintain that the tunnels would’ve connected if we went far enough,” Tony said with a scowl. “You two just have no faith in me and my amazing navigational abilities.”

“You can’t read a map,” Pepper said. 

“And you refuse to use GPS when you drive because you say it confuses you,” Rhodey added.

“Wait, why are we being so mean to me?” Tony turned to glare at Pepper, causing him to run into Rhodey when the other man abruptly stopped. “What’s happening?”

Rhodey’s brow was wrinkled in confusion. “This room shouldn’t be here,” he said, gesturing to the circular space, roughly the size of their dining room. There was another tunnel at the other end, but that felt like too easy of a solution.

Pepper pulled the map out of her pocket. “He’s right,” she said. “It’s not marked.”

Tony clapped his hands together. “Well, this is where I shine,” he said grandly, stepping into the center of the room. “Aren’t you guys glad you have an expert guesser on your side?” 

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Pepper muttered with a small smile, motioning for Tony to do his thing.

He started running his hands along the walls, searching with purpose for some crack or crevice that would reveal a clue. After a beat, Rhodey and Pepper started doing the same, the three of them a well oiled machine. Tony pushed at sections, hoping for another secret door. He got lucky: one section of rock felt different from the others. Tony knew in his gut that it was the tunnel they were looking for, and the already open one was a red herring.

“Over here,” he called, pushing on the wall. It budged a little bit. “Come and help me push it.”

Rhodey and Pepper walked over and started shoving the door with him. With the three of them all working, it moved easily, revealing a dustier, grosser, but definitely more promising tunnel.

“Points for guesswork?” Tony tried, inching backwards so that his partners wouldn't make him go first. He didn’t like the look of that shadow; it definitely had more than eight legs.

“Led the way, master guesser,” Pepper said dryly. “It’s your tunnel, which means _you_ deal with the spider webs.”

It was revenge for his earlier comment about videotaping her, he knew, but she was using his own logic against him and so he couldn’t really argue. Only the promise of discovery at the end of the tunnel got Tony moving. They were close now, he could feel it. “Fine,” he said, taking the map from Pepper. “But when I get eaten by a spider that you could’ve killed, Rhodey, you’ll feel really bad.”

“I’ll get over it,” Rhodey deadpanned. “Get moving. We have a treasure to find.”

Tony took the torch from Rhodey and got moving, his partners right behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos make me happy :))
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)


End file.
